Gas West Shines in Live Outage at Griffith Energy

In February of 2022, our diligent Gas West Team travelled to Griffith Energy Power Plant in Golden Valley, Arizona to conduct a 7FA Major Inspection. Led by APM Superintendent, Alex Blas, the single-shift crew consisted of 12 Millwrights and one Millwright Crane Operator.

To get ahead of schedule, a portion of this group led a pre-planning meeting several months before the outage. This 4-day meeting finalized topics such as mobilization/LOTO configurations and dates, operational procedures, tooling needs, vendor expectations, customer hot buttons and more. As a result, the crew was well-equipped and ready to roll before they arrived onsite.

As the outage began, all planned procedures were executed safely and smoothly. However, the crew soon found themselves with an obstacle at hand. Due to a power roller delivery issue, the team decided to clean a compressor rotor while it was still in the unit. “Because the rotor was left staged in the bearings, the team learned that there was ergonomic value to cleaning the compressor prior to removal. The cleaning process was more efficient and easier for the crews to access, resulting in a 50 percent reduction in labor.”, said APM Operations Division Leader, Stu Gibson. The wastewater used to clean the compressor was also captured in the unit and then disposed via the system funnels, making the collection and disposal of the waste easier to control.

The 25-day outage was executed with excellent safety and quality. Scheduling APM Gas and Specialty to single shift, but allowing LES work to be performed around the clock, proved to reduce overall cost of labor while maintaining critical path. Kudos to Alex Blas, Steve Kemp, Spence Wilson, Dave Pinapinto, Easul “Socket” Velazquez, and the rest of the crew for your success at Griffith Energy!